1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to telecommunications closures, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for inserting at least one cable into a telecommunication closure.
2. Description of Related Art
Telecommunications closures for housing communications equipment are deployed at various points along the distribution network. Telecommunications closures are positioned at various locations such as aerially from a utility pole, above ground on a pedestal, or below ground in a below grade closure. One example of a telecommunications closure is a splice closure configured to be positioned below ground. Conventional splice closures include components such as splice trays and/or slack hubs to facilitate the splicing of one or more fiber optic cables. Such splice closures are preferably watertight to prevent any degradation of the fibers and/or splices due to the ingress of water and other elements.
Telecommunications closures typically include one or more openings defined in the closure to allow the cables, which are connected, stored, and/or otherwise present within the closure, to enter and exit the closure. Preferably, the closure provides a generally sealed environment to protect the connectors, cables, and other hardware stored within the closure from water, dirt, moisture, infestation, or the like. Conventional closures typically include grommets that are interchangeable and that provide a variety of openings through which one or more cables may pass into the closure. To run a cable into a closure, a field technician typically removes a plug device (such as a grommet with no openings), selects a grommet with one or more openings suitable for the cable to pass through, positions the cable through the grommet, and then places the grommet into the opening of the closure. One shortfall of this approach is that the grommet openings may not always be optimally sized to seal the cable. Furthermore, the grommets do not provide any strain relief to the cable entering the closure. Therefore, a need exists for a cable attachment that conveniently seals and retains a cable entering a telecommunications closure.